The Consumer Council yesterday urged consumers to carefully check their Octopus card balances after transactions as there were several cases of wrongful charges last year.

It received 62 complaints in 2010 regarding Octopus cards compared with 50 in 2009 and 36 the year before that.

In one case, a shopper made purchases totalling HK$51 at a supermarket in September but the reader failed to acknowledge payment when the Octopus card was used.

There was also no acknowledgement when the card was presented a second time but a third application clicked.

However, it was later found the reader had deducted HK$51 each time the card was swiped, making a total of HK$153.

The shopper has received a refund from the supermarket.

Consumer Council publicity and community relations member Philip Leung Kwong-hon said most of the complaints against Octopus involved charges, procedures and fees for reporting lost cards.

With regard to lost cards, the council called on Octopus to reduce the cut-off time to protect consumers.

Currently, card owners have to bear the costs of all transactions for the first six hours after reporting the loss of a card.

"The Consumer Council has asked Octopus Cards Limited to stipulate a speedier handling of reported lost cards to eliminate losses to cardholders and to increase their protection," Leung said.

In response, a spokesman for Octopus Cards said the cards operate in an offline mode and it takes time to send files separately to all front-line processors to stop the use of lost cards.

As such, the company cannot lock the lost card immediately after a report is made.

He added the company will strengthen education on the use and operation of Octopus cards to consumers and merchants.

Civic Party legislator Ronny Tong Ka-wah urged the company to get to the bottom of the matter to restore consumer confidence.

"There have been some negative news about the Octopus company," Tong said.

"The complaints definitely affect consumers' confidence."

He said if the problems come from administration, the company needs to check which section is responsible.

The council suggests consumers check the transaction amount on the card reader before paying and ensure they do not have two or more Octopus cards together when making a payment.

According to the council, more than 21 million Octopus cards have been issued since its launch in 1997, an average of nearly three cards per person.